Just a Taste
by The Sixth Degree
Summary: Like raindrops inching down the bedroom window... *Oneshot as of now, may be continued later on. Saku/Ino, very very light yuri*


***obligatory disclaimer about not owning Naruto or any of its characters***

The rain that had been sprinkling throughout the day had finally subsided, and the sun had begun to set over the village of Konoha, painting the sky with streaks of pale orange and pink. The last of the day-dwelling birds were streaking through the skies, bound for the safety of their nests, before the predators of the night emerged to begin their feed. However, one such predator was already prowling the streets below, and was silently stalking its pink-haired prey.

Sakura Haruno was returning home from a long day of work, her thoughts those of a warm bath and a cup of tea before throwing herself into her bed and attempting to quash her feelings in the embrace of sleep. Unaware of her mysterious pursuer, the pinkette turned and walked into a park that spread out to her right, hoping to lessen the distance of her journey and return home before darkness overtook the village completely.

Suddenly, she stopped flat. A breath, almost felt, rather than seen, passed across the back of her neck. Slowly revolving, she turned to face the figure that had smoothly eased out of the sheltering darkness of the surrounding trees.

Calmly, attempting not to show weakness, Sakura took a half step backward, setting herself into the comforting glow of a lamppost that jutted out of the park ground behind her. The shadowy figure paused, wavered uncertainly, then launched itself forward.

Seconds later, Sakura found herself being gripped in a hug by a familiar blonde-haired individual, and her heart skipped a beat even as she sighed in relief.

"Ino, did you even consider the possibility for a second that I might have thought you were a rapist, or a mugger? After all, I'm currently carrying no less than four separate objects that are exclusively intended to cause fairly serious bodily harm."

The blond simply smiled. "Just trying to do my part to keep you on your toes, forehead; after all, the prodigy of Konoha's Hokage shouldn't be able to be taken easily by surprise" she teased, poking Sakura in the object of the jest as she spoke. However, it was all in good fun, and Sakura knew it; both girls had long outgrown the stage where such childish insults were considered scathing retorts, and they now simply served as friendly greetings, and rekindled memories of times past.

Sakura returned her best friend's grin. "As long as you know what kind of risk you're taking, Ino-pig" she teased right back.

Ino settled into step beside Sakura, and the pair continued on in silence for a while- not an awkward silence, but more of a contended silence, where two longtime friends simply accept that there is nothing in particular to be said at the time.

Finally, Ino broke the silence. "So, where are you headed?" she asked, lazily stroking a hand through her hair in an attempt to feign disinterest; an attempt that was as transparent to her pink-haired friend as the surfaces of the puddles still strewn about the surface of the worn dirt road.

"I'm on my way home, I'm exhausted."

"Hard day at the hospital?"

"You could say that."

Ino turned to face her friend, small alarm bells ringing in the back of her mind; almost instinctively, the blonde began digesting the implications behind that innocent, seemingly trivial figure of speech.

"I _could _say that… is there anything else in particular that I would be able to say instead?"

Sakura sighed and closed her eyes. "You could also say 'Sakura's five-year relationship ended today', if that sounds any more specific." As she spoke, Sakura's voice, normally so firm and full of resolve, cracked; that minute emotional slip was all Ino needed to see through the cracks opening in the pinkette's emotional façade.

"Oh god… Sakura, I'm so sorry…"

The pinkette sighed again. "You know, Ino… I'm just tired of this. Tired of men, tired of relationships, tired of commitment… The one man I've managed to find in my life who had some potential as someone I could be with, and trust, wasn't ready. He…. Dammit, I guess he just didn't want me."

Ino turned to her friend and grabbed her, embracing Sakura in a soft, warm grip. She felt the pink-haired young woman return her embrace and gripped tighter, holding for a handful of seconds before breaking off the contact.

The pair released each other, turned and began walking again. They stepped on in silence for a few moments before the blonde member of the pair broke the silence yet again.

"Sakura… what are you planning on doing tonight?"

Sakura considered the question with a slight tilt of her head, glancing to the side to watch the setting sun slip below the horizon. "Well… I suppose I'm just going to head home. Maybe get a bath in before I try to get to sleep." As she finished speaking, Sakura turned and jumped slightly; the light had begun to dim with the disappearance of the sun, and Ino had slid into place in front of her, a hand on each shoulder.

"Alright, you have a new plan for the evening. You're going to come to my place, we're going to have some tea, and we're going to talk. Doesn't have to be about him, it can be about work, family, anything you want." Ino flashed Sakura what she hoped was a reassuring smile, even as a small, unusual fluttering doubt inside her threatened to push its way out.

_Maybe she wants to be alone. Who knows, maybe she just doesn't want to talk to me about it. I probably shouldn't have said anything about it. I should probably just walk her home, right now._

Sakura closed her eyes, her expression becoming momentarily unreadable; and for a moment, Ino thought she may have spoken out of turn. But then, Sakura's eyes opened again, and she returned Ino's slightly unsure smile.

"Alright, Ino- I'd like that."

Ino relaxed visibly, her smile becoming slightly more genuine. "Okay, forehead- let's go have ourselves a little girl's night."

Sakura followed Ino through the latter's apartment door, breathing in the familiar tang of acrylic paints mixed with the soft fragrance of various flowers as she carefully picked her way through the cluttered entry way, stepping over paint pots and discarded strips of cloth.

Walking down the hallway, Sakura scanned the walls, taking note of the newest canvases that had joined Ino's steadily growing gallery of paintings. The blonde had recently begun dabbling in art, and although she considered her talents to be questionable at best, Sakura had been one of her most vocal supporters, convincing her to submit pieces to various galleries and auctions throughout Konoha.

Taking a seat in one of the mismatched chairs in the bright green kitchen (one of Ino's earliest artistic endeavors), Sakura inhaled the perfumed air, saturated by the scent of the bouquet of pale carnations that had been placed in a tall drinking glass in the center of the small, worn table.

Ino swung open one of the cupboards hanging on the lime-coloured walls and busied herself inside, emerging gripping two chipped mugs and a worn clay teapot.

By the time Ino had stepped over to the table and sat down across from Sakura, a steaming mug in each hand, the scent of freshly brewed tea had joined the potpourri of aromas fighting for dominance in the cramped kitchen.

"Two milk, no sugar, right?"

"Yeah, thanks."

The two women sat, stirring their tea in silence. After a few seconds, Ino spoke.

"So… do you want to talk about it?"

Sakura gazed down into her mug, as if hoping the answer to the question would be found floating on the smooth, brown surface of her beverage. "I really don't know. I mean, my life has basically been one long string of boyfriends who were either disappointments or assholes since I was 15. And now, when I finally find the only one who I might have wanted to stick around, he winds up discovering he has a 'fear of commitment'. After **5 years** of dating. What a pile of shit." Sakura punched the table distractedly, causing the impromptu vase in the center to jump, sloshing water across the table's surface. "Sorry" she apologized, as Ino fetched a towel and mopped up the spill.

The young woman rose to her feet and began pacing the room, looking like a pink-furred wild animal confined to a cage that was far too small. Ino watched apprehensively, wanting to say something, anything, to calm her friend down, but at the same time afraid she'd jump in at the wrong time.

Finally, Sakura's relentless pacing began to slow, and Ino seized the opportunity. "Sakura, I'm so sorry, and I really wish there was something I could do or say to make things better. But, look at it this way, I suppose… not every single guy out there is going to be a total washout, right?" The blonde smiled half-heartedly, attempting to inject some humour into the situation, but the expression of exasperated defeat on Sakura's face made the smile slide off like melting snow down the eaves of a building.

"You know, Ino-pig… I used to think that was true. But now, I'm starting to think that it's not entirely true- and it's not all because of the men, either."

Ino frowned. Sakura's voice had taken on an odd tone as she said that, and now she was simply staring fixatedly out the kitchen's single, small window. "What do you mean by that, Sakura?"

The recipient of her question sighed slightly, then shrugged. "I'm actually not entirely sure. I mean, the last few guys I was with weren't exactly Man of the Year material, that's for sure, but even on days when they were being nice, legitimately sweet guys, I could tell that my interest in them was just… waning, I guess. And even afterward, before… he… dumped me…" Ino winced slightly, preparing for a reaction, but Sakura resolve seemed to have hardened. "Obviously, I still care about him a lot, but… I don't know, I wasn't really into it, I suppose. Some nights we'd make love, and it seemed like it was solely for his benefit; he'd be enjoying it, sure, but I'd just kind of be lying there, faking passion and waiting for it to end."

A slight blush was beginning to spread across Sakura's cheeks now; she hadn't intended to speak so freely about that particular topic, but saying what she thought out loud was having a certain therapeutic effect that she definitely had not foreseen.

In looked sideways at her best friend, her confusion growing and her pulse quickening; and there, in the pit of her stomach, was that nameless feeling that had surfaced when she and Sakura had first touched on the topic on the park. "So… what exactly do you mean, Saku?"

Sakura's shoulders slumped as she lowered herself back down into her vacant chair, eyes not focused on anything in particular. "I don't know, I guess I just feel… worn out. I feel like I need a change. I want something different to happen, I just don't know-"

Sakura's sentence was abruptly cut off as Ino closed the gap between them and pressed her pink lips softly against her pink-haired friend's. Sakura's eyes widened in astonishment, but whether out of surprise or something else, she made no move to push Ino away. Ino held her lips against Sakura for a handful of seconds before breaking apart, and the pair simply looked at each other, their faces pictures of disbelief at what had just happened, panting as though they had just run a great distance.

"Sakura, I-I'm so sorry, I have no idea what came over me, I just-" Sakura cut off Ino's sentence with a raise of her hand.

"Ino… just don't. We can't, it's not right. I can't… I can't be in a relationship with a woman, especially you. We're best friends, we have been for years. And even if we did, no one would understand, no one would accept it. It would ruin our lives."

Ino felt a shard of ice-cold glass pierce her heart. "I… I just…"

"Ino, no. It's wrong." Sakura stepped forward and gripped her tightly, hoping to exude the sense of certainty that was nowhere to be found within her own mind. "I'm sorry. I love you, but not in that way."

Ino closed her eyes as, inexplicably, she felt tears welling up.

_Wait, what? Why am I crying? She's right, I know it, and I don't have feelings for Sakura… It was just a weird, stupid impulse at how upset she was; nothing more. I agree with her 100%, it's not the right thing for us to do, it can't happen._

_So why does it seem like my heart is trying so hard to convince me otherwise?_

Ino swallowed briefly and shuddered with the effort of keeping her private thoughts just that- and, to her dull surprise, she succeeded. Sakura gave her friend a sad smile, one that was returned (albeit with difficulty) by Ino.

"Now… no offense, Ino-pig, but I think I should really be heading home. It is getting pretty late, after all."

Ino sighed inwardly. She'd been afraid Sakura would react this way, but she really couldn't have expected a different reaction out of her. Pushing her doubts aside with the grin she slipped onto her face, she smiled at Sakura. "Alright, forehead. I have a feeling it's probably past your bedtime anyway."

Sakura smiled back and hugged her friend, turned and reached for the doorknob. She placed her hand on the dull bronze sphere, paused, and turned her head to face the blonde once again. "Ino…"

"Yeah, Saku?"

"Are we okay?"

Ino smiled again, ignoring the tiny part of her that was still screaming words at her, words that had become jumbled and confused as they made their way from her heart to her brain. "Yeah, of course we're fine. Go on home, billboard-brow."

Sakura rolled her eyes one final time, then twisted the doorknob and slid out the door, bringing it smoothly shut behind her.

Later, Ino was seated against her bed's headboard, clothed in a loose-fitting pair of sweatpants, with the drawstring missing, and a matching spaghetti-strap top (Even after dark with no one around, Ino was very strict with herself when it came to matters of her own fashion decisions… a fact that normally came as a surprise to visitors when they saw the state of her apartment).

Lying against the hard wooden surface, Ino struggled to make sense of the raging whirlpool of thoughts that was spinning through her mind.

_Okay, STOP IT. You can't feel like this. She's your best friend, she's a woman, and she's your BEST FRIEND. You don't have feelings for her. Like she said, it's not right. We're both girls, we'd have people lynching us on the streets._

However, as her brain paused for breath, another, quitter voice interjected from the depths of her heart.

_You care about her, you can't deny it… and what is care, if not a form of love? Besides, as for what other people think… why does it matter, as long as you both love each other?_

"We do not love each other!" Ino accidentally screamed to her empty bedroom, and the small voice faded into nothingness. Hours passed_, _and sleep finally found Ino as her self-imposed argument subsided.

The rain had begun again. Alone in her room, with the only window facing the obstructing screen of the shading branches of an oak tree, Ino slept, as rain drummed against the glass. Alone she stayed for the night, with not a soul near to disturb her slumber, or intrude on her private doubts.

And no one nearby to witness the silent tears that slid down her face as she slept, like the raindrops that slowly inched down her bedroom window.


End file.
